Next weekend will see many visitors come to the Cathedral. It is therefore not an easy time to speak personally to regular congregational members.
The Cathedral staff want to thank the congregation members for your continued fellowship in the gospel, your loving support and the privilege of being allowed to serve you in the name of Christ.
It has been a great year of progress in the Cathedral’s ministry.
There have been some significant events over the last year. Ross Cobb has led our music ministry. We hosted and conducted the Commonwealth Day celebration in the presence of the Queen. Sadly for us Jim and Carole Holbeck have retired. Our Healing Ministry enjoyed eighteen wonderful years under their leadership. The Asian Bible Church, and the Tuesday lunchtime Cathedral Bible Study have now passed their first anniversaries and are well established.
We have welcomed many into membership of the Cathedral, as a large number of people have joined us through the course of the year. The Sunday School has grown steadily showing the changing age profile of our Sunday morning meetings. It even topped fifty on one “normal” Sunday morning. (Not that there ever is a “normal” morning in the Cathedral!)
But the real progress has happened in the lives of people. People have come to know Jesus as their Lord. Others have grown in their knowledge of their Saviour. More of our members have committed themselves to become “Partners in the Gospel at the Cathedral”. There has been an increase in the numbers of people joining in the fellowship of Bible study.
Changes in the lives of people can be seen in the warmth of welcome that visitors keep commenting upon, and in the increased financial giving. We are still a long way from the financial self-sufficiency that we need to achieve, but the increase of 18% in giving in 2006 is enormously encouraging—not just because it means we are beginning to meet our budget but also because it indicates a growing commitment to the Cathedral’s ministry.
We hope that you enjoy this Christmas season. We have so much to rejoice in as we remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ—who though he was rich for our sake became poor so that by his poverty we may become rich.
